Sputnik and Arirang: 50 Years of Space Exploration and Korea
By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
Last week, the world celebrated the 50th anniversary of human's exploration into the space. It was Oct. 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union launched mankind's first artificial satellite into the earth orbit _ the Sputnik.
The successful flight of the Sputnik, which was about the size of a beach ball, was a surprise to the world and an affront to many Americans who were in the middle of the Cold War. It didn't take too long for them to come to think that satellites and space rockets could be utilized as weapons, something like dropping a nuclear bomb from outer space.
The long headline of The New York Times' October 5 front page showed the typical American response at the time: ``SOVIET FIRES EARTH SATELLITE INTO SPACE; IT IS CIRCLING THE GLOBE AT 18,000 M.P.H; SPHERE TRACKED IN 4 CROSSINGS OVER U.S.''
The Sputnik sparked the space race between the two powers. Upbeat with the global attention the first satellite had grabbed, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2 a month later with a dog named Laika put inside. The dog survived only for a few hours in space and died from overheating, but it suggested that humans would also survive the rapid change of gravity while being rocketed into space. Yuri Gagarin proved it in his historical space flight with Vostok 1 in 1961.
The United States soon followed by launching its ``Explorer'' satellite four months after Sputnik 1. But it was not until the Apollo program that the U.S. finally caught up with the Soviet Union.
In 1968, four U.S. astronauts flew close to the moon. The following year, Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the lunar surface. On landing the moon, Armstrong made the famous statement, ``one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.'' Jubilant with the success, a galaxy of science fiction novels and movies were published speculating it wouldn't take long for humans to land even further afield, perhaps on Mars.
However, criticisms sprouted about whether the space missions are worth their enormous budget. The Apollo 11's moon landing was estimated to have cost between $20 billion and $25 billion. Fatal accidents involving a number of astronauts and cosmonauts also worsened public sentiment on the necessity of dangerous space missions involving human pilots.
With the confrontation of the Cold War finally dissolved, plans to build a lunar base were either postponed or were substituted with more safe, practical and profitable projects such as sending up more transmission satellites, telescopes and orbital space stations. But the audacious investment in the space race actually benefited people's lives in many aspects, some of them unexpected. Apart from military uses, the satellites are now used in weather forecasting, intercontinental TV broadcasting and mobile call services. Among many other utilities, the most recent surge of satellite use is the global positioning system (GPS), which is now equipped in many navigation systems of cars, ships and airplanes for free.
Korea and Its Neighbors in the Space Age
Officially, South Korea aims to be one of the top 10 aerospace powerhouses by 2015. But history shows that it has made little impression in the space industry, compared not only to Western countries but also to its two East Asian neighbors, Japan and China. It was only in 1992 that Korea's first satellite ``Uribyeol 1'' was launched, while Japan and China had put their first ones into orbit already in the 1970s.
Today, almost 900 artificial satellites from some 40 countries move around the earth, but South Korea has so far launched only 10 with help from other nations, named Uribyeol, Mugunghwa and Arirang. The most advanced one, Arirang 2, which began operation in July 2006, can distinguish objects as small as one-meter wide on the earth's surface.
Korea's late start in the space exploration field is mainly due to economic and technical constraints. But the lukewarm attitude of people toward space programs also played a role in the development of the aerospace industry.
To raise the public recognition on space projects, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Korea Aerospace Research Institution are on a 25-billion-won mission for the first Korean astronaut. Ko San, a 30-year-old computer scientist who was selected through a series of rigorous physical and mental tests, is going to ride a Russian Soyuz spacecraft next April to the International Space Station. He will perform a dozen scientific experiments during the one-week stay there.
While the spaceman program is designed mostly for public propaganda, more practical developments are also underway in satellite and rocket technology.
The government is building a spaceport in Oenaru Island in Goheung, South Jeolla Province. Scheduled for completion next year, the space center will house a rocket launching pad and various research facilities.
If all goes according to plan, the space center will make South Korea the 9th nation in the world able to shoot a satellite into space (Excluding North Korea, whose claims of orbital launches are unconfirmed). KARI is also developing the Korea Space Launch Vehicle, with help from Russia. Its first launch is expected in 2008, which will make South Korea a self-sustainable space power.
The satellite technology is also about to make a big leap. On Sept. 13, KARI announced that it began to assemble a communication satellite, planned for launch in June 2009. KARI says it is the first one to be assembled and tested solely using Korean technology and expertise though the design was helped by Astrium of France.
``It will enable Korea to collect climate data by itself, which is currently obtained from the United States and Japan. We will also be able to provide the information to other nations,'' the institute said in a release.
Still, Korea is far behind its neighbors. China especially is rekindling the Cold-War style space race with the United Sates. In 2003, the country had its first manned space mission Shenzhou 5, which was followed by Shenzhou 6 in 2005. Earlier this year, it launched a ballistic missile to destroy a satellite, an unpleasant shock to the United States and other observers.
Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is as ambitious as the Chinese and actually is closer to the moon. Last month, it confirmed launching its nation's first lunar orbit explorer Kaguya. It is now settled in the moon's orbit, and began to send high-definition images to the earth. JAXA even has set a goal of constructing a manned lunar base by 2030.
The two Asian countries apparently re-ignited the global space rush. China is expected to launch its first lunar exploration satellite later this month, and India has plans for a moon launch in April 2008.
Unlike 50 years ago, the space race of the 21st century is drawing significant investment from the private sector as well, meaning the door to commercial space trips can be opened anytime soon.
Russia is considering flying private citizens around the moon and back as early as 2009, and there are several private ``space tour'' agencies operating in the United States and other nations.
Meanwhile, Google, the Internet giant, has announced that it will award $30 million to the first team of developers to successfully launch a private robotic rover on the moon by 2012 _ a deadline that will put ambitious competitors in a big hurry.